ABA Section of Business Law

Uniform Commercial Code Committee

Mission Statement

The mission of the Uniform Commercial Code Committee is to provide timely information and training to its members and the wider bar about recent developments in commercial law, commercial transactions and commercial practices covered directly by the UCC (e.g., sales and leases of goods, payments, letters of credit, documents of title, investment securities and secured transactions) as well as those covered tangentially (e.g., bankruptcy, law relating to LLCs and other unincorporated entities, law of guaranty and international commercial transactions).

Committee Facts

Nearly 1800 members

We have three in-person meetings a year at the Business Law Section Spring Meeting, the ABA Annual Meeting and a standalone Fall Meeting the location of which varies year-to-year

We co-sponsor with the Commercial Finance Committee a dinner at each Spring and Annual Meeting which is open to all attendees of the Meetings

Committee meetings often include significant participation by professors, practitioners and drafters of various articles of the UCC, with extensive opportunity for discussion and collaboration.

Our 19 active Subcommittees and Task Forces focus on a wide range of commercial law topics, providing members extensive opportunity to write and research and work with other commercial law lawyers

We offer Extensive sponsored and co-sponsored programs at our in-person meetings and via the web throughout the year on recent developments in commercial law and in training in areas of significant interest to practitioners

We publish 3 issues each year of the Commercial Law Newsletter containing a highly anticipated Spotlight column on recent cases and on current developments in commercial law

We publish an annual survey of commercial law in The Business Lawyer

We have published 15 books on various commercial law topics

The work of our members includes extensive comment and review of and reporting on new commercial law legislation in the state, federal and international levels, including the appointment of committee members as advisors to drafting bodies at all these levels

Areas of Expertise

Sale of goods

Payment systems

Letters of credit

Warehouse receipt rules and laws

Investment securities

Secured transactions

Creditors' rights generally

Relation of the UCC to other law, including common law, federal law and bankruptcy law

Comparison of the UCC to the commercial law of other countries and international treaties and conventions on the UCC

Power of Attorney Statute

UPDATE: New York's Governor Patterson announced on August 15, 2010 that he signed a Technical Corrections Act modifying the Power of Attorney Law. The full text of the Technical Corrections Act can be found here and is attached below.

The Technical Corrections Act amends the Power of Attorney that became effective on September 1, 2009 to correct many of the problems pointed out in the materials previously posted on this website (see below postings).

The new law will be effective on September 12, 2010, retroactive to September 1, 2009. The execution of a new power will no longer be an automatic revocation of a prior power, and multiple powers can co-exist. Powers given for commercial transactions are exempt from the requirements of the new POA law, as are corporate proxies, powers contained in commercial loan documents and powers coupled with an interest.

New York recently adopted changes to the New York statutes dealing with individual powers of attorney. These changes may have the unintended effect of invalidating powers of attorney that are used in a variety of common corporate, commercial and finance transactions. Below is a white paper signed by 51 law firms addressing certain issues arising from those changes. In addition, the final report of a New York State Bar Association working group proposing amendments to the New York law, and the text of the proposed amendments, can be found below. Dick Howe, a member of the working group, has provided us with these NYSBA working group materials. If you have any comments on them, please send them to Dick at hower@sullcrom.com.

Programs, Meetings and Events

Your client has decided that it can no longer operate and has further decided that a Chapter 11 Reorganization is too expensive, yet the Board has a duty to maximize value for stakeholders. What options are available that will allow the Board to fulfill its duties and avoid personal

Program Materials

Uniform Certificate of Title Act for Vessels

NCCUSL's preparation of Uniform Certificate of Title Act for Vessels (UCOTAV) is an effort to promulgate a uniform boat titling act which will coordinate boat titling with the boat numbering laws now in effect in all 50 states (under 33 C.F.R. parts 173 and 174 pursuant to 46 USC chap. 123) and with the Vessel Identification System being implemented by the Department of Homeland Security (through the Coast Guard) under 33 C.F.R part 187, pursuant to 46 USC chap 125).? The UCOTAV currently being drafted will also coordinate with the process of vessel documentation and preferred mortgage financing under 46 USC chap. 121 and 313 and with the UCC (Sect. 9-311). Because only about 35 states now issue titles to boats, UCOTAV affords an important opportunity to improve the laws relating to marine finance in this country. The following link will direct you to the website of the Subcommittee on Maritime Finance.more...

Listserve

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